"Focus on the first 10 seconds"

If you look at your YouTube audience retention or Wistia stats you'll notice that approximately 20% of your viewers drop off in the first 10 seconds.

If video is important for your business, this is a very big deal.

Since I first noticed this phenomenon 18 months ago, I asked myself: why?

Well after a lot of experimenting, I found the reason: the viewer isn't sure this video is right for them.

Sure, you'll lose a good chunk of your audience no matter what. But I've discovered that letting people know they're in the right place significantly reduces this initial drop off.

For example, my older YouTube videos have these long introductions that give a high-level view of the topic at-hand. So for a video on keyword research I would say something like: "Keyword research is important for SEO because, blah, blah, blah." And my audience retention was terrible.

Today, I just reiterate what the person will learn in the video.

For example: "In this video you'll learn how to X."

Or I introduce the problem the person is having: "How do you get authority bloggers to link to your website?"

Those more direct introductions have dramatically boosted my audience retention — which means more people watching my video content.

Your visuals have to be spot-on — the difference between recording from mobile phones, budget camcorders and high-end digital video cameras is easily distinguishable. Balanced lighting is critical to complement the focal points in shot.

Lastly, brevity is your friend.

Capture your audience's interest then sustain it.

Two minutes may sound like a very short space of time in the real world but when you're viewing a video, time can pass very slowly.

"Make the greatest video possible"

The greatest video marketing tip I can offer is to make the greatest video possible.

You can spend a fortune on video strategy, marketing planning, social media integration, PR / blog outreach and paid views but if the video isn't really good, and really shareable, it's only going to go as far as what you've paid for.

Conversely, if the video is amazing, then all that strategy leads to organic — free — sharing.

Once people find the the video, they'll WANT to share it — and all those views, viral sharing and the brand messaging exposure are free.